I learned today why I’ve spent the last four days watching tugboats push strings of barges up and down the Mississippi. That string of barges carries the equivalent cargo of a freight train 3 miles long or a fleet of transport trucks 35 miles long. No wonder the local railroad tracks are collecting weeds between their rails. The tugboat generates up to 10,000 horsepower and throws a stern-wave up to half a mile behind it. The string of barges it pushes is up to a quarter-mile long and 3 to 8 barges wide depending where on the river they are operating. Barges come in two shapes: rake and box. A rake is 195 feet and has a slanted bow to cut the water; a box is perfectly rectangular and 200 by 35 by 12 high. Five barges plus their tug are a quarter-mile. Not as romantic as a riverboat but they belch a lot less smoke and modern sonar makes the man with the knotted rope and weight who sounded the river obsolete. In any case the river here at 41 ft is a great deal deeper than the two fathoms that gave Samuel Clemens the call he heard at Hannibal. The army corps of engineers keep the river open.
Finding a campground beside the Mississippi River did not prove to be a problem even if the street names have been changed. River View RV Park and Resort in Vidalia, Louisiana as advertised lies inside the levee with a ring-side view of traffic on the river. Someone reversed the hot and cold water pipes on the shower I used but there was a sign. My site opposite the office resort complex was high traffic but the Wi-Fi signal was good. Traffic on the Mississippi was constant night and day.
My first trip to the Natchez Visitor’s Centre after crossing the mile-long bridge was under-whelming. The people on duty on a weekend knew less about the Trace than I and discovering that there was a charge for viewing the Welcome to Natchez Video was a real turn-off. I went back on Monday, parked and took the walking tour of Downtown Natchez. Lots of real estate for sale but way out of my league. Trinity Anglican/Episcopalian with its Tiffany! stained-glass windows was a wonderful sight. I’d love to have been at service for Easter there to hear their English State Trumpets (en chamade) located in the rear balcony. I’d have liked to have heard their pipe organ any time. I snuck into the St Mary’s Basilica for a peak even though it was closed for the veneration of the sacrament. The Presbyterian Church looked rather utilitarian but the historic photo collection that graced the chapel area was an eye-opener. One photo showed ladies’ bustles. There was a collection of grandly dressed southern belles, riverboats, stately homes, businesses. The home of a freed man who became the town barber is a National Park Site. I found it rather off-putting that a freed slave would engage in owning slaves himself.
On Sunday morning I bicycled up to the small Episcopalian Church of the Good Shepherd where a Deacon conducted service for about thirty people. Without intending to I created a sensation just by singing. It was a welcoming congregation in any case.
Finding a campground beside the Mississippi River did not prove to be a problem even if the street names have been changed. River View RV Park and Resort in Vidalia, Louisiana as advertised lies inside the levee with a ring-side view of traffic on the river. Someone reversed the hot and cold water pipes on the shower I used but there was a sign. My site opposite the office resort complex was high traffic but the Wi-Fi signal was good. Traffic on the Mississippi was constant night and day.
My first trip to the Natchez Visitor’s Centre after crossing the mile-long bridge was under-whelming. The people on duty on a weekend knew less about the Trace than I and discovering that there was a charge for viewing the Welcome to Natchez Video was a real turn-off. I went back on Monday, parked and took the walking tour of Downtown Natchez. Lots of real estate for sale but way out of my league. Trinity Anglican/Episcopalian with its Tiffany! stained-glass windows was a wonderful sight. I’d love to have been at service for Easter there to hear their English State Trumpets (en chamade) located in the rear balcony. I’d have liked to have heard their pipe organ any time. I snuck into the St Mary’s Basilica for a peak even though it was closed for the veneration of the sacrament. The Presbyterian Church looked rather utilitarian but the historic photo collection that graced the chapel area was an eye-opener. One photo showed ladies’ bustles. There was a collection of grandly dressed southern belles, riverboats, stately homes, businesses. The home of a freed man who became the town barber is a National Park Site. I found it rather off-putting that a freed slave would engage in owning slaves himself.
On Sunday morning I bicycled up to the small Episcopalian Church of the Good Shepherd where a Deacon conducted service for about thirty people. Without intending to I created a sensation just by singing. It was a welcoming congregation in any case.
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